Switch to a greener lifestyle with 10 green New Year's resolutions

While we cannot completely eliminate sources of environmental damage, there are small things that we can do to help save Mother Earth. Add some environmental love to your New Year's resolutions with easy lifestyle changes to sustain our home planet and keep us all going for many more years.

• New Year's Day is the perfect time to rethink buying clothes made of synthetic fabric like polyester, acrylic and acetate that are non-recyclable.
• Choose clothes made of natural fabric like organic cotton and fibres that are sourced directly from the communities that produced them.

• The chemical fluoropolymer used in non-stick pan coatings releases carcinogenic compounds in the air when heated.
• Go back to cast-iron skillets that fry food just as well and get even better with time.

• Time to stop using cosmetics containing carcinogenic triclocarbon and paraben.
• When washed off from skin, these chemicals are absorbed into soil, causing toxic damage.

• Form a green viewing habit by keeping your TV setting to energy-saving mode and reducing brightness by 50 per cent of the factory setting.
• These changes will still give rich details while making the earth a lot cooler.

• Freon and hydrocarbon emissions contribute to ozone layer depletion.
• Regulate your air conditioner use and switch to other ways of cooling the home like installing ceiling fans and screened windows.

• High-rise building construction disrupts environmental ecology from the ground up.
• If you live in a condominium, pay back damages by growing a pocket garden or an indoor wall garden to help refresh the air and release more oxygen.

• Map a walking route to frequent destinations like markets, school, office and service shops. Carpool and schedule your errands all in one trip.
• Shopping online or using bike delivery services also help reduce air pollution.

• Canadians eat an average of 52 grams of beef and other red meat per day, according to the Canadian Meat Council.
• Imagine if all beef consumers switched to eating grass-fed beef instead of grain-fed cattle, whose feeds are produced at the expense of harmful greenhouse gases.

• A report by Organic Consumers Association confirmed that the high level of toxic benzene, formaldehyde and triclosan in household cleansers cause toxic damage to humans and the environment.
• Switch to natural cleaning agents found in your kitchen such as vinegar, baking soda and organic oils.

• Plastic drinking straws are among the world's top 10 marine pollutants.
• Start a no-straw campaign by drinking your first smoothie of the year straight from the glass, or use paper or plant-based straws instead.